Rare last-place feat hangs over Mets, Yankees in telling indictment

For five hours and 13 minutes, as Sunday afternoon segued towards Sunday night, we have been a metropolis with two last-place baseball groups due to a few miraculous ninth innings that happened 1,050 miles away from one another and 5 minutes faraway from one another. 

First, at 4:44 p.m., a Washington Nationwide named Jeter Downs blooped one simply past the attain of the infielders at Nationals Park, scoring outdated pal Dominic Smith and capping a six-run ninth inning that helped the Nats rally to an 8-7 win over the Athletics. That ensured that the Nats would crawl right into a digital tie with the Mets on the backside of the NL East, truly a couple of share factors forward of them. 

So at 4:44 the Mets formally grew to become a last-place group. 5 stunning minutes later, inside Miami’s loanDepot Park, the Yankees solidified their place on the backside of the AL East when the Marlins’ Jake Burger smoked a line drive to left off Tommy Kahnle, capping a remarkable five-run ninth inning and giving the Fish their very own hard-to-fathom 8-7 win. 

At a time in the summertime after we typically believed each the Mets and Yankees can be chasing historical past, they have been doing simply that, solely the form of historical past that you just need to deal with like a Russian textbook, written in invisible ink, the higher to extra simply overlook. 

As a result of these 5 hours and 13 minutes — until the Mets held off the Braves, 7-6, at Citi Field — introduced a most exceptional growth. The Mets and the Yankees have formally shared the town for 22,406 days. On solely a type of days — Aug. 5, 1967 — have they every owned sole possession of final place after Aug. 1. On one different day, in keeping with Elias Sports activities Bureau, they have been each additionally final however the Yankees have been tied with the Kansas Metropolis Athletics for final; that was two days later, on Aug 7, 1967. 

The following day the Yankees beat the Angels, 8-4 — regardless of a 3-for-4 effort from future New York baseball antagonizer Jim Fregosi — and that was the final time the Yankees visited final place that late within the season till 1990. 

And that was it. Twice in 22,406 days. And when the Braves jumped out to a 3-0 lead on the Mets on Sunday night time — making the general rating Braves 37, Mets 3 since Friday — it certain appeared like we have been going to see the groups go to mattress sharing separate rooms in baseball’s cellar for the primary time in 56 years, plus six days. 

The Mets, alas, wished no a part of that doubtful storyline. 

(At the very least for now … ) 

However it’s onerous to consider, the extra we see each groups play, that this would be the final time we speak about this specific nugget. The Mets are nonetheless solely a half-game forward of the Nats and the Nats are taking part in with the carefree ease of a group that hasn’t had an oz. of stress on it in 4 years whereas each recreation for the Mets appears like a referendum on whether or not they nonetheless even care to play any longer. 

The Yankees? 

Properly, look, we’re beginning to see one thing concerning the Yankees that mimics what we noticed with the Mets at the moment final month: the standings insist that pie-eyed Yankees followers can channel “Dumb and Dumber” all they need — “you imply there’s an opportunity?” — whereas the model of baseball they proceed to play renders that notion as … nicely, dumb and dumber. 

And Sunday was merely the coup de grace, an opportunity to take a sequence towards a profitable group for the primary time since June blowing up like a quick-wick M80 on the Fourth of July, pushing them 5 video games out within the wild-card chase and — extra pertinent to this topic — two full video games behind the Crimson Sox within the AL East basement with three video games towards the pinball-machine offense of the Braves looming earlier than the Sox come to city subsequent week in a heated battle for fourth place. 

In case you have been questioning concerning the state of The Rivalry, let’s hear it from “Mad Males” character Pete Campbell: “Not nice, Bob!!) 

That applies to the town’s dragging nines and flagging baseball season, too. Maybe today could have ended with out the groups languishing in final place. However there can be different days forward. 

Loads of different days.